John Tierney: “I understand that $10 million is $10 million, and that's a lot of money to each one of us individually and, of course…”

“I understand that $10 million is $10 million, and that's a lot of money to each one of us individually and, of course, we should be concerned. It's not proportionately a lot in our $1.7 trillion budget. But I think the real number to look at here is what does it mean to these individuals who are harmed by government policy on no doing of their own. So if it's $4,200 to a family in my district or $4,200 to a family in the gentlewoman's district, that's what's driving our economy right now. For people to have every expectation of getting the return of that money and to play by the rules only to have the bureaucracy undercut them, I think that's the issue of fairness that we are dealing with here. Now, we will have an issue later on about whether or not we think now is the appropriate time to put $10 million on the floor to help people out, and that will be a day for them. But I think we should deal with the policy now and authorize that to be done at some date either this year or next year, or whenever we can make the argument in Congress that it's time to be fair. I think we can all say in this amount, given the huge meaning this is to individuals, now is the time to be fair; 15,000 people wronged by government bureaucracy in amounts that are every bit as significant to them individually, the $4,200, as $10 million may be to all of us in the aggregate. It's an impact on their lives.”